Thursday, December 21, 2006

What has been happening?

In Tolkien’s books there is a word that I am quite fond of – mathom. A mathom is a thing that one has no use for right now but might be useful in the future so you do not throw it away. Indeed, according to Tolkien, the hobbits have a whole special mathom-house in which they keep the mathoms that they do not have the space for in their homes. I mention the word because I find a vaguely similar tendency recurring in my life.

I tend to like to get involved in lots of different things and so end up doing more than I can cope with. The way I find I deal with this is that every so often I cut back quite a lot on my commitments only to then gradually reintroduce the ones that I decide were the most important or interesting. Usually such a ‘spring cleaning’ is brought about by some major changes in my life, such as starting a new job or moving. Indeed, the last few months have been a period of re-evaluation and re-engagement for me. The particular reason for this change has been that I have applied for a post-doc position which, if I end up getting it, will entail either moving or commuting across borders. I have spent the last few months waiting for official word but will not know for sure that I’ve got it till early next year. In the meanwhile I have been changing things in life. One of the effects of this has been that I have not posted anything to the blog despite the great number of blogworthy things that have happened.